


This City Sinks: Prologue

by loserskaspbrak



Series: This City Sinks: Derry, ME [S04EP25] [1]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Gen, this is for a social media au on twitter ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:19:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22646293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loserskaspbrak/pseuds/loserskaspbrak
Summary: Richie Tozier is the host of the popular ghost hunting television show, Ghastly. Fans and critics of the show argue back and forth over whether what is filmed is real or not. Truly, how are the viewers to know what happened to Richie and his friends in the summer of 1989?That isn’t to say the show isn’t highly exaggerated. It is. Richie and his team put on a fantastic performance each episode, which he believes should earn him an Emmy at the very least.To Richie, it’s all fun and games as long as he can avoid two things.1. Whatever the hell was in the Well House in Derry, Maine on June 3rd, 1989 and 2. The fact that he has been in love with his best friend, Eddie Kaspbrak, for as long as his memory goes back.Too bad for Richie Tozier, huh?* * *The Prologue: What Happened in the Summer of '89, Anyway?
Series: This City Sinks: Derry, ME [S04EP25] [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1629055
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	1. ONE

**Author's Note:**

> @Ghastlytrvl invites you to join Richie Tozier and friends on twitter.

Richie threw the door open and ran into the room without so much as a knock to announce his presence. “I have an idea!”

Eddie rolled his eyes as he turned to face his friend. He wrinkled his nose when he noticed that Richie was wearing the same thing he had worn the day before and looked as if he had just rolled out of bed. “Jesus Christ, Richie, did you even shower? I can fucking smell you from all the way over here.”

“Not all of us spend hours every day trying to look cute for our mommies, Eddie Spaghetti.”

“Fuck you! I don’t spend hours getting ready and don’t call me that!” Eddie huffed.

Richie laughed, “Don’t call you cute or don’t call you Eddie Spaghetti? Either way, why would I stop that?”

Eddie was about to answer, but Mike interrupted. “Richie, you said you had an idea?”

Richie turned his attention to the other five members of their group. “Yeah! Well, actually, my little sister had the idea and I stole it from her. They’re like seven anyway, so they chickened out and didn’t play the game after all. It sounds really stupid, but I thought we could go play it at that old ass house on Neibolt.”

“What’s the game?” Bev asked. Eddie glared at her and then at Richie. 

“Excuse me? That sounds like an awful idea. Imagine the amount of diseases in that old house. We could get tetanus and have to get a limb amputated.” 

“You don’t even know the game! It’ll be fun! Come on, Eds, don’t be so boring.” Richie sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Eddie tried to wiggle away, but he was already at the end of the couch. 

“I d-don’t kn-know, Rich… I agree w-with Eddie on this one,” Bill shrugged. “Seems d-dangerous. W-We c-could j-j-just hang out here.” 

“Don’t be a bunch of babies! It’s supposed to be a fun game. I bet it doesn’t even work! Besides, haven’t you ever wondered what it looks like inside that house? We could find all types of forgotten treasures!”

“No, I have not,” Eddie said with certainty. 

“What if there are spiders or rats?” Stan asked. “It doesn’t seem very fun.”

“What if we do it in the middle of the day? It’s not as scary and we’ll be able to keep a lookout for all the creepy animals and stuff,” Mike suggested. 

“That won’t stop them from being there and it from being a breeding ground for diseases. I would rather stay away from that place. Plus, if my mom found out I even thought about going there, I would be grounded until I graduated college!” Eddie frowned. 

“ _ Eddie, baby, live a little, _ ” Richie said in an unrecognizable accent and leaned further into him. Eddie hated the way he felt when Richie called him that. He muttered a weak protest. “We’re all going, so if you get tet-anus, then we’ll all get it, too. Tet-asshole buddies forever!” 

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Eddie groaned. 

“I didn’t hear you say no.” 

Eddie knew damn well that there was no way Richie would let him miss out. Or that he would let himself miss out. “Okay, fine!  _ Asshole. _ ”

  
  



	2. TWO

Eddie stood outside of the house for what felt like thirty minutes but was realistically more like three. The rest of the Losers had gone in without second-guessing themselves and here he was, thinking about every possible thing that could go wrong. Or worse, what his mother would say if she knew that he was even near the disgusting old house. 

This could quite possibly be the dumbest idea Richie had had yet. It didn’t even surprise him how easily his other friends had folded, but it still disappointed him. He had hoped that Stan would have put up more of a fight, at least. Then he might have had an excuse to back out. 

Richie walked out of the house and threw something at Eddie. He managed to dodge it, though he may have screamed while doing so. “What the fuck!” 

“Are you just going to stay out there? Because you have the Polaroid and we need it,” Richie said as he leaned up against the doorframe. “We’re going to start soon.”

“I-

“You don’t have to be scared, Eduardo Spaguardo. I’m here to protect you,” Richie grinned. 

“Fuck you, asshole. I don’t need you to protect me!” 

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t want anything messing with that cute face of yours, Eds.” 

Eddie rolled his eyes and stomped up the rickety stairs. “That’s not my name and don’t call me cute, dickhead.”

“Whatever you say, cutie.” Richie saluted him. 

“Why do you always have to be such an asshole?” Eddie asked as he shoved past Richie. 

“Part of the job,” he shrugged and pushed off from the door frame. “Anyway, we all need to take a photo and place them around the candle. Oh shit, I forgot the candle.”

“I knew you would.” Eddie rolled his eyes and pulled the scented candle he stole from his mom’s dresser out of his backpack. “I came prepared.” 

“Can we do this before it starts to get dark?” Stan asked. 

“Yeah, yeah, hold your horses, Stan the Man.” Richie turned to Eddie and smiled wide.”Take my picture, Eddie baby!”

Eddie tried to ignore how his cheeks warmed and instead focused on picking up the camera that hung from his neck. He quickly snapped a photo of Richie and then moved on to take photos of the others. 

When Bev offered to take his photo, a part of him wanted to say no. Something that felt like his mother pulling at him and explaining how he would get hurt or how he could hurt her made him want to race out the door and go back home. Still, he said nothing as he handed the camera to Bev. 

He didn’t smile as she took the picture. 

“Next, we’ll need to use this,” Richie pulled out a small pocket knife from his shirt pocket, “to mark our photos.” 

“Wait, what the fuck? You never said anything about that!” Eddie said. 

The rest of the group at least had the mind to look uneasy. The pictures in Bev’s hands were slightly bent from how hard she was holding them. 

“Is that r-really a g-g-good idea?” Bill asked. 

Richie looked down at the knife and frowned. He hadn’t really thought about it before. The plan had sounded right to him when he first heard it, but now? Was he really sure of that? “I guess not…” 

He was about to put the knife away when he heard a gasp from beside him. He turned to Eddie, but the boy wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he was staring at Bev and the line of red that dripped down from her nose to her chin. 

She had noticed it about the same time as Eddie, but it was already dripping onto her hands, shirt and the floor. One drop landed on the first polaroid, then quickly dissolved. 

Stan stared at the photo and cleared his throat. “I think we should go.” 

“Did you see that?” Mike asked. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We should really go,” Stan said more forcefully. 

“The b-b-b-blood on the ground is g-gone, too,” Bill stuttered out, just above a whisper. 

It dawned on Richie that Bev hadn’t said anything at all. He looked back up at her and this time it was him that was gasping. Bev’s eyes were pure white. “I don’t think that’s supposed to happen.” 

“Beep beep, Richie,” Bev said, voice low and entirely unlike her own. She let the pictures fall from her hands. 

“We need to go. We need to get her out of here,” Ben said. 

“Oh, but that wouldn’t be fun, now, would it Ben?” Bev smiled. “We should stay and play, Benny. Please stay and play! All of you!  _ Stay and play! _ ”

Ben looked wary but held out his hand. “Richie, give me the knife.” 

“What? Are you fucking kidding me?” Richie asked and took a step back. At the same time, Bev fell to the floor. 

“Give him the knife, trashmouth,” Not-Bev said. 

“Rich, I think something is attached to her. We… I have to do something to help her. So, please just give me the knife,” Ben said and thrust his hand toward Richie in a show of impatience. 

Richie looked at Eddie and hoped that he got across the fact that he didn’t know what to do. Eddie looked down at Bev and frowned. “Give him the knife, Rich.”

Exasperated, he shoved the knife at Ben. 

Ben pricked his finger with the edge of the knife and let a drop fall on his own polaroid. Just like Bev’s the blood disappeared. Bev groaned and sat up. “What happened?”

Eddie closed his hands in a tight fist. He knew something was wrong. He should have just listened to himself. 

Ben turned to Mike. “You’re next. We need to do this.”

Mike stayed silent but apparently understood whatever Ben wasn’t saying out loud. He grabbed the pocket knife and copied what Ben did. 

One by one, each of the remaining Losers followed Ben’s lead until it was Richie’s turn. He held the pocket knife and stared down at his polaroid. His grin seemed to mock him, saying:  _ Come on, Richie, this was all your idea. You are the reason they are here. You have failed them all.  _

Eddie stared at Richie as he finally pressed the knife to his finger. The blood dripped down to the ground as he reached down and smudged his finger against his photo. Like with the others, his blood disappeared. 

He silently passed the knife to Eddie, his fingers lingering for a fraction of a second before he pulled away to form a fist at his side. 

Eddie looked at the blade and raised his hand. Every part of him was screaming for him to just go. He didn’t need to do this. His blood hadn’t spilled and he never wanted to do any of this anyway. But, as he looked around at his friends,  _ at Richie _ , he knew what he had to do. 

The pain was minor compared to how tense he was. He dropped the blood on his photo and watched as his blood disappeared. 

“Eds put the pictures around the candle…” Richie said. 

Eddie didn’t have it in him to protest the nickname. He bent down to arrange the pictures around the candle and moved back to Richie’s side. 

“Bev, light the candle.”

  
  



	3. THREE

The candle flickered for a few seconds, but didn’t go out. From what Richie knew about the ritual, that meant that the game was ready to be played. All that was left to do was- “We need to hold hands and repeat ‘I want to play a game with you’ over and over until the candle finally goes out. That’s when we know that the game started. We have thirty minutes to hide. If it doesn’t get us, then we win. The game is over. If it finds us, we lose.” 

Eddie felt weak in the knees, but he managed to stay upright. He frowned as Mike asked, “What happens if we lose?” 

“I don’t really know. I didn’t really think it was real so I didn’t pay attention t-

“We die,” Bev cut in. She wiped a tear from her cheek with the palm of her hand. “I can’t explain why I know that.”

Richie thought he might be able to. 

“So we have to survive,” Stan said. “Don’t let it catch us.”

Eddie swallowed down his fear and looked around at each of his friends. He unclenched his fists and reached out to Bill and Richie. “There’s no way out now.” 

“No, we have to finish the game,” Bev whispered.

Bill took Eddie’s hand, and soon each of the Losers had linked their hands to form a circle around the candle. They were silent before Bill stood up straight and started the chant, “ _ I want t-to play a g-g-game with you. _ ”

They all joined him in repeating the chant:  _ I want to play a game with you. I want to play a game with you. I want to p- _

Silence filled the room as the candle flickered out. They looked at each other, not letting go. Richie squeezed Eddie’s hand. “We need to hide.”

“There’s a basement,” Richie said. “We can go hide there.”

“A basement? What fucking good has come from going into a basement?” Eddie whispered, furious. He tried not to think about how they wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for Richie. The last thing he wanted was to actually be angry with him.

“Eds, please…” 

“Don’t call me that!” Eddie snapped. 

Richie closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “Please stop being difficult. I-

_ Listen to Richie, Eds. Don’t you know the rules?  _ **_If you don’t play, you LOSE!_ **

Richie reached out and grabbed Eddie by the wrist to pull him closer. Eddie relaxed slightly at his friend’s touch, but quickly tensed up again. “What the fuck was that? You heard it, too, right?”

“Y-yeah,” Richie muttered. “We need to hide  _ now. _ ”

He pulled Eddie toward a door that looked like it led down to the basement. At the bottom of the short staircase, a small amount of light shone in from a window. Still, the room looked mostly dark and Eddie couldn’t stop himself from imagining all sorts of  _ things  _ waiting for him. Biding their time until they got the chance to wrap around him and suffocate the life out of him. 

Richie squeezed at his wrist and pulled him out of whatever panic infused spiral he was going down. “Don’t get mad at me when I tell you this, but I’ve been here before. Like a year ago and I’m pretty sure there was a little door in one of the corners. It might be big enough for us to hide in…” 

“You’ve been here before? When? You came without m-  _ us _ ?”

“Eds, please, now is not the time for this,” Richie said and pulled him down the stairs. They ran to the small door in the corner of the room. 

“I’m not going into a crawl space, Richie.”

“It’s probably bigger on the inside. I don’t think we have a choice.” Richie got on his knees and pulled Eddie down. He opened the door to find what looked like a short closet. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eddie asked as Richie let go of his wrist to crawl into the space. With little left to do, Eddie followed him in. 

When he was sitting upright, he reached over and shut the door. They were completely in the dark with the exception of the glow stick he pulled out of his fanny pack. It was all he could do to stop himself from crying. “What the fuck did you get us into, Richie?”

Richie shuffled away, though he couldn’t move much further than he already was. “I didn’t think any of  _ this  _ would happen. It was supposed to be a stupid fucking game. I don’t know. Jules was talking about it over the phone and I overheard her. I bugged her until she told me what to do. She’s a baby, how was I supposed to know she had some demonic fucking ritual? It was supposed to be bullshit and fun!” 

“Where did she even get this shit anyway?” Eddie tried not to speak above a whisper, but it was getting harder when he wanted nothing more than to scream at Richie. At least if he let it out, he could stop being so angry. 

“I don’t fucking know. I don’t know half of the shit Jules gets up to, apparently.” 

Eddie rolled his eyes. He really didn’t know what else to say. He wanted to say a lot, but he also wanted to say nothing at all. He was so fucking angry, but mostly? He was terrified. 

They were in real danger and what the fuck could any of them do about it? What could  _ Eddie  _ do about it? Nothing. He was just a small, panicky kid with asthma and probably a million other things wrong with him. 

“Eds,” Richie whispered after who knew how long. Eddie’s head snapped in his direction. “Are you okay?”

“Am I- what the fuck? No, I’m not o-fucking-kay, Rich,” he hissed. He could see Richie’s shadowed form look down at his hands. “How long have we been in here, anyway? Should we go check on the others?”

“Not that long and I don’t know,” Richie muttered. 

“ _ Great. _ ”

“What do you want me to say, Eddie? I’m really fucking sorry. That’s as obvious as my lo-

“Don’t you dare fucking say what I know you’re going to say,” Eddie kicked at him for good measure. 

“I should be able to remember the good times in my life, Eds. I’m going to die and then what will you do? You’ll have to console your-

“We are not going to fucking die. I am definitely not going to have your fucking mom jokes be the last thing I hear,” Eddie said and kicked him again. 

A small grin flickered on Richie’s face before another frown came to replace it. “We need to get out of here.”

“Out of the closet?” Eddie asked without realizing what he said. 

Richie let out a weird laugh. “God no. I meant out of this house. Out of the game… We can deal with coming out of the closet later.”

“Beep beep asshole,” Eddie muttered, embarrassed. 

“Right,” Richie sighed. “Shut up, Rich.”

They stayed silent for a bit after that. Eddie tried to listen to see if he could hear what was happening outside of their crawl space, but the house was eerily quiet. There was no sign from any of their friends or whatever it was that was after them. Maybe they could really just wait it out...

But Eddie knew better than that. 

It was a trap. 

  
  



	4. FOUR

The scream filled the room. It filled their heads. Eddie could feel it rushing through his blood and into his heart, causing it to pump faster and faster. Something moved next to him but he couldn’t care less.  _ Who was that?  _

Richie put his hands on his cheeks and tried to get his attention. He was saying something, but Eddie couldn’t focus. All he could think about was the question in his head that was playing on repeat, getting louder and louder with every second that ticked by.  _ Who was that? Who was that? Who was that?  _

**_Don’t you wanna know?_ **

Eddie gasped and tried to find the air that was just wasn’t coming. Richie let go of Eddie’s face and went down to his fanny pack. “Fuck, it’s not here! Eddie, where’s your inhaler?  _ Eds? _ ”

He couldn’t speak and so he couldn’t tell Richie that he might have left it at home. Accidentally. Maybe on purpose, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. Not when he was sitting on the ground of a crawl space fighting for every single breath. 

“Fuck it,” Richie muttered and his hands were back on Eddie’s cheeks. “Eds, can you hear me?”

Eddie nodded slightly. 

“Good. I know it’s hard and it’s really pointless for me to say, but I need you to try to relax. Just a little, enough for me to help you, okay?”

Eddie didn’t know how to fucking relax a little. He tried to focus on Richie’s eyes and how they looked comically large and in shock behind his glasses. Richie was muttering something under his breath, something Eddie couldn’t really make out. Then, “Eds, I’m going to do CPR.”

“D-don’t,” Eddie managed. He looked down at Richie’s lips and then back at his eyes. He tried to take a deep breath, though it was difficult. 

“Oh, thank god. I didn’t want to have to make your mom jealous,” Richie smiled, but it fell short. Eddie tried to take a few more deep breaths. He was slowly getting there, even if each breath felt like breathing in acid. He hated this so much. Why did he have to be so weak? 

Finally, “Fuck you.” 

Richie didn’t say anything as Eddie continued to catch his breath. Eddie tried to lean back against the wall, but soon realized that Richie was still holding him. “Are you okay?”

Eddie tried to nod and Richie realized that he was still holding onto his face. He let go and looked toward the door. “I think we need to go find out who screamed…”

“I- Richie, I’m scared,” Eddie whispered even though it probably could have been left unsaid. Richie knew how scared he was without him having to say it out loud. “I feel like we’re going to walk to our deaths.”

Instead of responding, Richie grabbed Eddie’s hand and squeezed. Eddie looked down at their linked hands and took another deep breath in.

“Okay, let’s go,” Eddie said and looked back up at Richie. 

Richie nodded, let go of Eddie’s hand, and reached over him to open the door. The basement was darker than it was before they went into the crawl space. Eddie tried to make out the different shapes of shelves or really, anything, but it was nearly impossible to see. 

That didn’t seem to be a problem for Richie, though. He left the small space and waited for Eddie to follow him out. Their hands connected again. 

“Follow me,” Richie said and pulled him toward the stairs. Eddie tried to ignore the feeling that something was going to grab him and pull him down as he walked up the steps. Instead, he focused on the hand in his and told himself that as long as he was with Richie, he would be fine. Nothing would happen. 

They left the basement and slowly walked into the main part of the house. The screaming had long stopped, but they could still hear movement coming from above them. Richie paused by the stairs and looked up. His eyes widened at something that Eddie didn’t hear. 

“ _ Stan, _ ” Richie whispered urgently before he pulled Eddie up the stairs.

They passed room after room, but couldn’t find any sign of Mike, Bill or Stan. The door at the end of the hallway was closed and it was their last option. Eddie knew that nothing good would be on the other side of the door, but he still followed Richie. Then, he helped him force the door open. 

He couldn’t help him further. 

“NO,” Richie yelled as he tried to run into the room. Eddie didn’t move. Every part of his body was frozen. Every thought in his mind had disappeared. He didn’t even notice the tugging on his wrist. 

It couldn’t be real. 

There was no way that any of what he was seeing was real. 

Richie tried to pull at him again, but Eddie refused to budge. 

Blood. There was so much blood. How could there be so much blood in one place? How? Eddie didn’t hear the whimper that left his mouth or the frustrated noise that left Richie’s. 

They couldn’t be dead. 

“Eddie. We need to fucking help them!  _ Move and fucking help me! _ ” Richie demanded to no avail. Frustrated, Richie pulled his hand out of Eddie’s. 

Eddie’s eyes snapped to Richie, but he remained silent. 

“Just…  _ fuck!  _ Stay where you are, Eds,” Richie said in a more patient tone, though Eddie could tell he was still terrified. “Don’t go anywhere.  _ Please. _ ”

Eddie wasn’t planning on going anywhere, his feet were practically rooted in their spot. Richie moved toward the bodies of their friends. 

Then Eddie couldn’t see anything else. The door had slammed shut. 

He could vaguely hear a knocking, or was it a banging, on the other side of the door. And yelling… Richie was yelling, but he couldn’t understand what he was saying. 

Eddie tried to step toward the door, to get to Richie, but he found that he was stuck. His feet were planted to the floorboard and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move forward. 

Out of desperation, he tried to step backward and nearly landed on his ass when he realized he could. 

He couldn’t get to Richie. Eddie looked around, panic flooding back through his veins, but he forced himself to focus on something else. Bev and Ben… they had to be somewhere in the house. 

He refused to think about whether they were alive or not. Instead, he thought back to where they went when they had all separated. Ben and Beverly had been downstairs… in the kitchen, maybe? Or a parlor?

Eddie turned around and ran back toward the stairs. He wasn’t even sure if they had stayed downstairs, but he knew they weren’t in the rooms. Part of him wanted to yell out for them, but he didn’t want to risk giving away his location. 

Had he been any braver, he may have risked it. Just to make sure they reunited and they could all help save Richie. 

He should be brave. 

Richie needed his help. Richie, who had entered the room to help their friends who were probably dead while Eddie had stayed in the hallway like the coward he always knew he was. He could be in danger all because Eddie couldn’t go into the room and face the horrors they saw. 

_ Baby. Scared little boy. _ **_I know where you are!_ ** _ ,  _ the voice from before sang. Eddie shivered and went to move down the stairs. 

He had to find Ben or Bev quickly. They would be able to help him. 

Before he could set foot on the top step, he was pushed back violently. His back collided with the window… or maybe it was a door. Yes, a door. The doorknob dug into his back painfully, which would definitely leave a bruise if he survived. Had there been a door there before? 

_ Time is ticking, Eddie. Tick tock tick tock tick- Do your friends know where you are? You’re all alone. I smell the fear from here, you little baby boy. Have you always felt like this, Eds? _

Eddie didn’t want to believe what he was hearing was real, except it sounded like it was whispered right into his ear. He could almost feel the breath of whoever- whatever was talking to him. 

He could feel the air pressure change around him, too. It was colder. So fucking cold that goosebumps were spreading on his arms and up the back of his neck. 

Then something fell on top of him. It began crawling up his leg, under his shorts, until it bit him on his thigh. Before he could react, thousands of  _ somethings  _ fell on him. He screamed as they crawled all over him and bit at his skin, but immediately regretted it when they started crawling into his mouth. Up his nose. In his ears. They were everywhere,  _ in him _ , and Eddie couldn’t do anything to stop it. 

_ You feel that, little Eds? I’m in you. Filling you up with disease after disease. Poisons and Venoms and Diseases all for little baby Eddie. All that you ever feared, wrapped up in a nice little package. Many of them! All I ever wanted. You’re the perfect present.  _

Eddie hadn’t stopped screaming. He tried and tried to swipe the things off of him, but they kept being replaced. 

As the voice had said, Eddie could feel everything in his body start to rot. He could feel the cancers in his bones, brain, throat,  _ everywhere.  _ He could feel the things turn into tumors on his face and skin and in his brain. There was no escape. 

When he was little, his mother warned him about people who were sick. She called them lepers and told him that God had turned his back on them. Told him that they deserved it, too, for the vile things that they did. He had nightmares for months, the fear eating away at him until he begged her to help him. 

His mother always took care of him, told him that he shouldn’t do those things or else he’d become his worst fear. She told him exactly what he needed to do to avoid this. It hurt him, sometimes. But, now? He thinks maybe he should have listened to her. 

She was his mother and she was always right. He should have trusted her. 

His heart was beating so fast. So, so fast. He knew what would happen next. Soon his heart would stop and all that would be left of him would be the body of a boy who should have listened to his mommy. A boy full to the brim with the diseases he had been told to avoid his whole life. 

He was useless alone. 

He should have listened to his mother. 

He should have stayed with Richie. 

_ Richie _ , he thought. Vaguely, Eddie could hear screaming, even though he was pretty sure that he was still screaming as well. Or maybe he wasn’t. Maybe his voice was gone and the throat cancer had torn his vocal cords to shreds. He couldn’t be sure of anything anymore. 

_ Tick tock runs out the clock! _

And then there was no structure behind him. He flailed backward and was barely stopped by something hitting his back. Not a wall, shorter. 

It was still cold, but not as cold as it had been just seconds before. 

He couldn’t see anything. The things had consumed his vision what seemed like ages ago, but had been about a minute and a half. 

Eddie was still thinking when something or someone screamed. It was angry and different from anything he had heard before. Then he was falling. 

Falling until he wasn’t falling anymore and he was on the ground. The air had been knocked from his chest and he felt a piercing pain in one of his arms. 

Seconds later, his vision began to return and his body felt like his own again. Nothing was crawling over him and whatever was in his body was gone. 

The pain kept growing and he wished he hadn’t left his medicines at home. He wished he had his inhaler and his high-grade ibuprofen. 

“Oh my god, Eddie!” 

He turned his head to see Bev and Ben run out of the house. Was the game over? Had they won? 

No. Mike, Stan, and Bill were still dead. And where was Richie? Maybe he was dead, too. 

“Is his arm broken?” Ben asked. Bev nodded and sat at Eddie’s other side. 

“We couldn’t find you anywhere, Eddie. I think whatever was in there wanted us separated. We shouldn’t have split up,” Bev frowned and pulled off his fanny pack. She started to rummage through it. “Where is everything?”

“I-

Eddie wanted to say it. Say that he was brave for that second, at home. But he didn’t deserve it. 

Bev was about to say something when there were footsteps behind them. Eddie looked around Bev and Ben and almost fainted in pure relief. 

There was Richie, followed by Bill, Mike, and Stan. 

_ They were fine.  _

“What happened?” Eddie asked. 

“I think we were able to save each other?” Mike said, unsure. Eddie wasn’t sure what that meant. 

“He’s right. Ben and I helped each other out of… our thing… and then ran into Bill. He had gotten separated from Mike and Stan and  _ something _ was happening to him, but when we came, we were able to pull him out of it. We went to find Mike and Stan, who had apparently gone through something as well, but were pulled out of it… we don’t know why,” Bev rushed through her story with a frown. “We hid in the attic for a while, but then we heard screaming. Ben and I volunteered to go see who it was because obviously it had to be you or Richie, but we couldn’t find either of you? We searched everywhere.” 

“Th-th-then it w-was over,” Bill said. 

“We rushed down from the attic and found Richie on the balcony. He told us you saved him,” Mike frowned. “We all saved each other in our own ways. That's why that thing couldn’t win.”

Richie was oddly quiet. He kept looking at Eddie and Eddie sorta understood why. Maybe. At least, part of him thought it had something to do with the lie he told to everyone. There was no way that Eddie saved  _ anyone.  _

“We should go,” Richie finally said. The group agreed. 

They helped Eddie up. He realized that the pain was coming from his newly broken arm. He didn’t know how he was going to explain it to his mom, but he knew that he had at least a week’s stay in the hospital to look forward to. 

As they reached their bikes, Richie paused and tugged at Eddie’s good arm. “Can we talk?”

Eddie nodded and they waited as all of their friends made promises to meet later and left. 

“What’s up, Rich?”

Richie’s face crumpled. He looked near tears, but he managed to keep them in. “What happened?”

“Oh,” Eddie whispered. “It got me. I think it was like how Beverly said. They separated us and when I went to go look for help, I paused. I was scared and it got me. I was pretty sure I was going to die. There were these… these things and they were all over me.  _ Inside me.  _ And I knew that everything they were doing to me was going to make me sick. Make me fall apart and become…”

“You were fine. Well, not  _ fine _ . When I finally reached you, you were screaming, but there was nothing on you… I kept hearing things. Awful things. I thought everyone was dead, it kept  _ telling _ me that everyone was dead and that it would take you, too,” Richie shuddered. “And then you were there, screaming and trying to take something off of you, I guess. I didn’t know what to do. It kept…”

Richie didn’t say anything for what seemed like five minutes. Eddie’s skin was crawling again. He was about to ask Richie what he was going to say when Richie continued. 

“It kept whispering that it was going to kill you right in front of me. That it was going to have me watch and it was going to be my fault. I panicked. You were screaming so much that I thought you were going to run out of breath… I-

“You were the one that opened the balcony and shoved me down,” Eddie said. He didn’t ask. He already knew the answer. 

“I- Yes. It was either that or let the thing get you and I couldn’t risk that, Eds.” 

Richie looked down at his bike. 

“Why did you lie? Why did you tell everyone I saved you?”

Richie looked back up at him. “I didn’t want the rest of the Losers to think I’d push my best friend off a balcony?”

“Liar.”

“You’re right, but I don’t really have a good explanation,” Richie shrugged.

“You should have told them the truth. I’m a coward and they should know that.” Eddie frowned. “I’m sorry I abandoned you. You didn’t have to save me. It was my own fault.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Eds? You didn’t abandon me! That thing separated us on purpose. And I’m the fucking idiot that got you all into this situation. Of fucking course I had to save you. If I didn’t, I would never have left that fucking house. It would have gotten me, too.” 

Eddie didn’t know what to say. Instead, he took Richie’s hand in his and squeezed. Richie squeezed back, but let go. 

“We should get back home. I’m sure you need to get that arm fixed asap. Mama Kaspbrak is probably all types of worried. I wouldn’t want that for the love of my life.” 

Eddie didn’t know if he hated or was relieved to hear Richie back to his normal self. Eddie felt that he kind of needed it. 

“Fuck off, asshole.” 

“Want me to walk you home?” Richie asked. 

Eddie looked down to his bike and remembered that, yeah, he would have to walk home. He looked back to Richie. “Yeah, dick, it’s the least you can do after you pushed me off of a fucking balcony.”

But he smiled, so Richie wouldn’t take offense. Richie grinned back. 

Then, they went home. 


	5. FIVE

Richie didn’t stop to think that it may have been a trap. When he saw that three of his best friends were laying on the ground, covered in blood. They didn’t look like they were breathing and all Richie could think of was that this was his fucking fault. 

“NO,” he screamed and tried to run into the room. Something tugged him backward and it was only then that he realized Eddie was still there, Richie’s hand wrapped around his wrist. He looked back at his friend and tried to tug at him, but Eddie didn’t budge. 

Richie let out a frustrated noise and glanced back at his three friends. He was going to run out of time, if he hadn’t already. He tried to tug at him again. “Eddie. We need to fucking help them!  _ Move and fucking help me! _ ”

Still, Eddie gave no sign that he had actually heard him. Richie tried his best not to be furious, because it wasn’t Eddie’s fault this was happening. He had every right to be scared. Richie  _ himself  _ was fucking terrified without having any right to be. 

He let go of Eddie’s wrist. 

“Just…  _ fuck!  _ Stay where you are, Eds,” Richie said in a more patient tone, though Eddie could tell he was still terrified. “Don’t go anywhere.  _ Please. _ ”

He stepped away and knew immediately that he had made a mistake. The moment he had moved to check on his friends, the door slammed shut behind him. 

_ Five dead and gone, Richie! What will you do now?  _

Richie wanted to throw up. He spared a glance at his friends before running back to the door and banging on it. “Eddie! Shit, I’m so sorry! Don’t fucking move! I’m going to break the door down and it’s going to be okay! Actually, move because I’m breaking this stupid fucking door down and I don’t want to hurt you! Eds!  _ Please fucking say something! _ ” 

He tried to shove his body at the door, but the door remained stuck. Richie cursed under his breath and tried again and again and again. He knew that there would be bruises if he made it out of here alive. 

Fuck-

He turned back to his friends to find that they weren’t on the ground anymore. Mike, Bill, and Stan stood upright and smiled at Richie. 

Stan opened his mouth, blood gurgling out of his mouth and down his chin as he tried to speak. Richie couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. 

Mike, whose neck was twisted at an odd angle, didn’t say anything. Instead, he kept looking at Richie. His eyes seemed to say what his mouth didn’t:  _ This is all your fault. You killed us Richie. Your fucking trash mouth and stupid, scrambled brain finally got us all killed.  _

Bill stepped toward Richie. If Richie hadn’t already been up against the door, he definitely would have been now. “Y-you s-s-scared of m-me, Rich?”

What could he say? He couldn’t say anything, that’s what. Richie tried the door handle, but nothing. The door was still stuck. 

“J-j-join us, Richie,” Bill smiled. 

“I’m so sorry,” Richie whispered. “Fuck, I’m so, so sorry.”

_ Join them, Richie. I can help you. It’ll be so easy! Your parents wouldn’t even realize you were gone! Imagine how well your sister would do without you there to be an awful influence. Let me help you. _

“Let us help you,” Mike said and held out his hand. Richie looked down and noticed that Mike was holding out a piece of jagged glass. 

Richie realized how grateful he was that Eddie was on the other side of the door. How grateful he was that Eddie didn’t have to experience this. 

“W-w-what are y-you w-waiting f-f-f-for? _ Take it _ .” Bill’s voice transformed, almost to the voice that was in his head.

He looked between each of his friends and down at the broken glass. Shouldn’t he? Why should he leave this house while his friends stayed behind? He couldn’t leave them. He didn’t  _ deserve  _ to leave this house. 

Everyone was gone… except-

_ EDDIE!  _

Richie turned his back on his friends the moment Eddie’s scream reached his ears. He pulled at the door, willing it to open. It shouldn’t have words, but it did and Richie wasn’t about to question it. 

He left the room and ran toward the screaming. The hallway stretched on for what felt like miles. He knew it was part of the game, but Eddie was out there and Richie couldn’t be sure if they were real or not. 

Eventually, the end of the hallway seemed to appear and where at first, Richie didn’t see anything, now there were vague shadows. 

The closer Richie got, the more those shadows resembled someone. 

Eddie. 

His friend was thrashing around, screaming at the top of his lungs. Richie didn’t know how his voice hadn’t given out yet. Eddie was begging for something to “get off” of him and for his mom. 

It wasn’t until Richie heard his own name leave Eddie’s mouth that he realized he needed to do  _ something  _ to help his friend.

Richie looked at his friend, helpless, and noticed that he was up against a door. That hadn’t been there before, had it?

_ You didn’t like my last game, Rich? That’s okay! I have a new game just. for. _ **_you_ ** _!  _

Richie couldn’t help the scream that left his mouth. He tried to move forward, but it felt as if something had wrapped around him to keep him exactly where it wanted him. 

_ Now Richie, you haven’t even heard the rules!  _

“Eddie! I’m right here!” Richie yelled over the voice in his head. “You’re okay! Stop! Please! Can you hear me? FUCK!”

_ Here is your moment. Your time to either win or lose. Will it be Eds or will it be you?  _

Richie stopped struggling, “What the fuck?! Fuck you, I’m not going to let either of us die, you fucking stupid piece of-

Whatever had wrapped around him had tightened, effectively cutting off whatever Richie was saying. He knew he was at the mercy of whatever the fuck had them there. 

_ Will it be sweet,cowardly, little Edward, who would follow you wherever you go?  _ A pause.  _ No, you wouldn’t do that to him, would you, Rich? No, no, no. You  _ **_love_ ** _ him. _

Richie felt chills run throughout his whole body. 

_ So choose. He can leave if you just forfeit. Eddie will win if you lose! _

Richie wanted to say it. Wanted to let whoever or whatever the fuck was in this house have him and let Eddie go, but Richie didn’t fucking believe him. He knew that if Richie died, nothing would stop it from taking Eddie, too. 

So, he had to think smart. He could be smart, he had good grades and shit.  _ Think, Tozier. Use your fucking brain.  _

“I choose him,” he said, which surprised himself. 

The hold on him relaxed. Eddie screamed louder, his breath had become short and erratic, which made Richie wonder how the fuck he was still standing. 

Richie moved fast, yelling as he ran. He rushed to Eddie and reached behind him to shove the door open. Eddie toppled backward, outside onto a small balcony. Richie’s eyes widened. He still had a chance to get Eddie out. 

Eddie was leaning against the short railing. Richie didn’t have time to weigh out his options. Eddie was in danger and if he had even a slight chance at surviving, Richie was going to take it. With all the strength he still had, he shoved Eddie off of the railing. He watched as his best friend fell and hit the ground hard. 

Something pulled him back into the house before he could make sure that Eddie wasn’t dead. 

_ CHEATER.  _

_ YOU WILL DIE. I WILL HAVE SO MUCH FUN RIPPING YOU LIMB FROM LIMB. YOU WILL JOIN YOUR FRIENDS SOON. SO CLOSE.  _

“FUCK YOU,” Richie yelled. Whatever had him forced him to move toward the stairs. 

_ THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS. YOU CAN FALL. IT WILL LOOK LIKE AN ACCIDENT. OR I CAN MAKE YOU DISAPPEAR AND THEN EVERYONE WILL FORGET ABOUT TRASHMOUTH TOZIER. NO ONE WILL REMEMBER YOU. NOT YOUR SISTER. NOT YOUR FRIENDS. NO ONE.  _

Richie felt all the fright leave him, almost immediately. “My friends? Are my friends a-fucking-live!?” 

Almost, as if on cue, he heard shuffling beside him. Someone grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Richie, are you okay? We were trying to find you. We need to leave. Time is up and we need to go. Now.”

He looked at Mike. His face was perfect. Not a single scratch. His neck looked like how a normal neck should look. 

Richie turned to look at Stan and Bill, who despite the fear etched on their faces, looked perfectly fine. 

Together, they walked outside. 

Eddie was fine. They were all fine. Everyone was alive.

Richie talked to Eddie when he asked. He told him some truths, but also some lies, because how could he ever tell him what really happened? He couldn’t.

Then, he walked Eddie home. Mrs. Kaspbrak yelled at Richie, but he took it. He didn’t even make a single joke. He just watched as Eddie and his mom got into the old car and left, presumably to the ER. 

It wasn’t until Richie was home that he noticed. 

He pulled something out of his pocket. Something that wasn’t there before. The polaroid that Eddie took of him. His smile wide and forever taunting. 

Burned into it were three words. 

_ Until next time.  _

**Author's Note:**

> yeah basically the au is on @Ghastlytrvl's twitter page (:


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